Water, Where It Belongs
Irrigation Installation and Drainage in Utah
We’re a Park City design studio, and our crews install irrigation and drainage across Summit, Wasatch, and Salt Lake counties — systems shaped by 20+ years of working with water on Wasatch Front properties.
Water is the quietest part of a landscape and the one that decides everything. Too little and the plantings fail. Too much in the wrong place and it pools against the foundation, erodes the grade, and freezes where it shouldn’t. The work is getting water exactly where it belongs.
Most landscape firms treat irrigation as the last line item. We design it into the property from the site study on, and the same team that installs it looks after it season after season.
Drainage
The water you don’t want is as important as the water you do. On a sloped, freeze-prone property, drainage is what protects the home, the hardscape, and the grade.
We design and install drainage that moves water away from the foundation and the patio and gives it somewhere to go — French drains, channel and surface drains, dry wells, downspout management, and regrading where the slope needs it. Drainage is mostly invisible once it’s in. It’s also the difference between a property that sheds a wet spring and one that pools, erodes, and heaves against the structures built on it.
Irrigation
Irrigation in this climate is not a matter of more water — it’s a matter of the right water, in the right place, at the right time. A short season, intense sun, and water-wise plantings all change what a system has to do.
We design and install smart irrigation built around the planting plan and the microclimates of the property — drip for beds and water-wise plantings, efficient spray and rotor zones for lawn, and weather-based controllers that adapt to the day’s conditions rather than running on a fixed clock. The result is plantings that thrive and water that isn’t wasted, which at altitude is the most considered version of the system, not a compromise.
How We Approach the Work
Irrigation and drainage are decided at the site study, not after the planting is in. When our team reads a property — slope, soil, sun, and how water moves across it — we’re already designing where the water needs to go.
The system is then designed alongside the planting plan and the hardscape, installed by our in-house crews as part of the build, and tied into the controller and zones the property needs. Because it’s all under one roof, the irrigation, the drainage, the grading, and the planting are coordinated as one system rather than retrofitted around each other.
Featured Designs
Work shaped by place.
Old Ranch Road.
Stone terraces designed for mountain runoff and winter durability.
The North Bench House.
Terraced stonework shaped for steep mountain grades.
Mountain Majesty Manor.
Built for mountain winters and year-round living.
Designed for Utah's Climate
A system designed for a mild valley does not work at 7,000 feet. Park City sits in a hardiness zone and a freeze-thaw cycle that punish anything not built for it — and the irrigation and drainage have to account for both.
That means controllers and plant zones matched to a short growing season and high-altitude sun, lines set below the freeze where they have to be, and a full blow-out before winter so nothing splits when the temperature drops. It means drainage engineered for snowmelt, not just rainfall — because in this climate the heaviest water often arrives in spring, all at once, with nowhere frozen ground will let it soak. We design to the climate because we’ve seen what fails when a system ignores it.
Where We Work
Park City, Heber, Midway, Salt Lake County, Summit County, Wasatch County, and select projects across the Wasatch Front. Water behaves differently on either side of the divide — different soil, different drainage, different freeze line, different snowmelt — and the system changes with it.
The studio is built for one region, and the crews know its water intimately.
Part of the Year-Round Relationship
An irrigation system is not install-and-forget — it’s a system that runs across every season and needs a hand at the turns. That’s where the stewardship relationship matters.
The same team that installs your system starts it up in spring, adjusts it through the heat of summer, and blows it out before the first freeze. We catch a broken head, a clogged drain, or a controller running long before it becomes a dead planting or a flooded patio. Looking after the water is reading the property continuously, season after season — not waiting for something to fail.
questions you may have
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to winterize my irrigation system in Utah?
Yes. A full blow-out before the first hard freeze is essential — water left in the lines will split them when it freezes. For the properties we look after, winterizing is part of the year-round relationship, handled before you have to think about it.
Can irrigation be water-wise and still keep plantings healthy?
Yes — and at altitude it should be. Drip for beds, efficient zones for lawn, and weather-based controllers deliver the right water to the right plants without waste. Done well, water-wise irrigation is healthier for the plantings, not a compromise.
What's the difference between a smart controller and a basic timer?
A basic timer runs on a fixed clock regardless of weather. A smart controller adjusts to conditions — temperature, recent rain, and the needs of each zone — so the system waters when the property actually needs it. On a high-altitude property with a short season, that difference shows in both the plant health and the water bill.
Why does my yard pool or erode after storms and snowmelt?
Almost always a drainage problem — water with nowhere to go, often made worse by frozen ground in spring. We assess how water moves across the property and design drainage to carry it away from the home and hardscape before it pools, erodes, or freezes where it shouldn’t.
Do you install drainage and irrigation together?
Yes, and ideally as one system. Both are decided at the site study and installed by our in-house crews alongside the grading and planting, so the water you want and the water you don’t are managed together rather than retrofitted around each other.
Start a Conversation
Water starts with a conversation about how it moves across your property and where it needs to go.
We design, install, and look after the work — irrigation, drainage, and grading under one roof. The same team carries it from the first site walk to every winter that follows.